Proética’s (TI´s national chapter in Peru) recently released report on its campaign targeting corruption in the education sector, found that 307 cases of corruption have been reported. This publication is composed of reports from interviews of teachers, administrators, parents and students. Nearly half of the cases reported relate to administrative practices in the education sector, such as hiring or moving personnel among regions. Thirty-four percent of the cases involved complaints about selling report cards or lack of proper tutoring by teachers. The report also includes recommendations such as the adoption of an integrity policy in the education sector.

Proética’s campaign “With Corruption There Is No Education” was launched in six of Peru’s 25 regions last December and aims at providing citizens with trustworthy channels to report on corruption in the education sector. In the next eight months, the campaign will be implemented in a further 12 regions. This project is being carried out in partnership with the Peruvian Ombudsman. To read more, please see: www.proetica.org.pe/Descargas/PDF/infodefensorial.pdf

The National Customs Directorate of Paraguay has signed an agreement to have Transparencia Paraguay, TI´s national chapter in the country, monitor the implementation of its 2007 Annual Contracting Program (ACP). The TI chapter will be charged to independently monitor all phases of the country’s national and international contracting processes including their execution, and to help draft terms and conditions for pubic contracting. Transparencia Paraguay will publish all related information on its website to assure that the process is transparent. For more information, please see: www.transparencia.org.py/images/Destacados/acuerdo_especifico_decooperacion_aduanas.pdf

Ninety percent of citizens in Fiji believe that political parties are corrupt, according to a study released by Transparency International (TI) Fiji in March. The study’s other main findings showed that more than 50 percent of respondents believed that the government was either ineffective in the fight against corruption or actively encouraged corruption, and that respondents viewed the business community as only ‘slightly better’ than politicians. When asked for their opinions about the incidence of corruption in the legal system, the majority of respondents replied that bribes did not need to be paid to get a fair judgement from a court. The survey was conducted before the coup in 2006 for TI Fiji by Tebbut Research. For more information, see: www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases_nc/2007/2007_03_22_fiji_politics_corrupt

Transparency International (TI) India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Vishakhapatam Steel Plant on 29 March 2007 to adopt Integrity Pacts in its procurement activities. The Integrity Pact is a tool developed by TI to ensure that all procurement activities between a company or governmental body and its suppliers are handled in a fair, transparent and corruption-free manner. This is the second Public Sector Undertaking in India to sign such an MoU, after the commitment of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Commission in 2006. Now, other PSUs like the Steel Authority of India Limite , Mangalore Oil Refinery and the Airport Authority of India are considering introducing Integrity Pacts in their procurement contracts.

On 4 April 2007, the Port Quasim Authority (PQA) of Pakistan launched a procurement manual developed in partnership with TI Pakistan. The manual consists of all standard bidding documents on procurement, based on international standards such as those used by the World Bank and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers .The launch was celebrated with a ceremony at head office of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Karachi. The Chairman of the PQA, Asad Quraish, Mukhtar Ahmad of the NAB and Syed Adil Gilani, Chairman TI Pakistan attended the ceremony.

The AMAN Coalition, TI’s chapter in Palestine, held its annual conference last month in Ramallah. The conference examined a number of issues tied into the theme of political corruption. These included the relationship between the three branches of authority in the Palestinian political system – executive, legislative, and judiciary. Academics, Palestinian Legislative Council members, political elites, political party representatives, representatives of civil society organisations and donors attended AMAN’s annual conference. A set of recommendations emerged from these discussions on the urgent need to clarify the relationship between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian National Authority as well as that of the Office of the President to the government.

A survey implemented by TI Uganda in Kyontera County, Rakai District found that leadership and governance in this area are compromised, placing a heavy toll on development, as funds meant for the provision of services are embezzled. The study, implemented in December 2006 as part of a project financed by the European Union under its European Development Fund / Civil Society Capacity Building Programme, was undertaken to provide a baseline documentation of the nature, magnitude and severity of corruption in the target area. Other objectives were to identify possible causes of corruption; to examine the level of awareness among community members and their leaders; to identify current initiatives to eradicate corruption at the local level; and to assess people’s capacity to participate in anti-corruption activities. For more information, contact Charles Mubbale, National Programme Manager TI Uganda, at: mubbale@yahoo.com

Poradňa Transparency International Slovensko, Slovakia’s new Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC), opened its doors on 1 February 2007. The centre, run by TI’s national chapter in Slovakia, provides legal advice and assistance to citizens on corruption-related issues and undertakes advocacy for broader reform. Since opening in February, the centre has received 27 complaints, of which, more than 50 percent have been successfully processed. The ALAC is supported by the European Union as part its project entitled “Strengthening the Role of the Local and Regional Government Watchdog Organisations in the Fight against Corruption.”